The Office of Geriatrics and Interprofessional Aging Studies has recently updated two of our website addresses. The main Office website is now found at aging.osu.edu. On this website, you will find a list of our distance education offerings, information about the OSU Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Aging, a list of geriatricians at OSU, and more!

We've also updated the website address for our Aging Connections website, which can now be found at agingconnections.osu.edu. You will learn more about the Champion Intergenerational Center, faculty, education, research, health care, and more on this website. Faculty looking for research collaborators or students looking for faculty mentors in the field of aging will find the Aging Connections website helpful for creating connections across campus.

The Office of Geriatrics and Interprofessional
Studies wish to congratulate Jessica Krok, Ph.D., who recently joined the
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences as an Assistant Professor. Previously, she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Research Specialist for the Division of Population Sciences in the Arthur G. James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Krok
received her M.A. in Gerontology in 2008 and her Ph.D. in Aging Studies in 2012
from the University of South Florida.
Her research interests include cancer
survivorship in diverse older adults, age differences in cancer treatment
decision making, cancer health disparities, symptom management, and patient navigation.

Dr. Krok comes to us with her husband Rick. When she’s not
doing research or teaching, you may find her participating at local trivia night, running with her dog, Izzie, and volunteering for LifeCare Alliance.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Krok to the Office of Geriatrics and
Interprofessional Aging Studies Family!

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Aging is a
university-wide program that offers current OSU graduate and
professional students advanced educational opportunities in the field of
aging. The Specialization’s core curriculum focuses on the basic
components of gerontology shared by many disciplines, while the
electives allow students to pursue either a research agenda or a more
clinically-oriented pathway.

In 2016, we had eight graduate students who successfully completed the Specialization in Aging:

Deanne Clause (Pharmacy)

Adam Fromme (Design)

Jessica Gillespie (Occupational Therapy)

Allison Lloyd (Social Work)

Nicole Man (Occupational Therapy)

Briteny Millfelt (Occupational Therapy)

Maggie Rusnak (Occupational Therapy)

Amy Williams (Occupational Therapy)

The OSU Office of Geriatrics and Interprofessional Aging Studies congratulates these students on this worthwhile accomplishment!

Do you help care for someone with dementia?
Researchers
at Ohio University are studying how serving as a caregiver for a patient or
patients with dementia can affect the caregiver. In exchange for participating, you will receive free cognitive screeningwith feedback on your cognitive performance and a $20 Walmart gift card!You May Be Eligible To Participate if:

You are over 50

You provide at least 5 hours of care per week to an individual with dementia; you do not need
to live with this person.

You are able to read and write in
English

Your participation will include answering
questions about your physical and mental health, your general background, your
experience as a caregiver, and your thoughts about your cognitive
abilities. You will also complete a
brief battery of cognitive tests, about which you will receive feedback at the
end of the study.

The Ohio State University Wexner
Medical Center was recently ranked the number one regional hospital in Columbus, Ohio by the U.S.
News & World Report. According to
the report, Ohio State’s Geriatric services ranked 44th in the
country.

Geriatricians are board-certified physicians in internal medicine or family medicine who have added training in the care and conditions that are more common to the older adult population. OSU has many services and programs that benefit older adult patients that focus on prevention and management of chronic diseases, cognitive ability, and providing primary care tailored to the older adult patient. The team approach is also often implemented at OSU in the care of older adults, and may involve geriatricians, nurses, care coordinators, pharmacists, social workers, and other health care providers. Other programs at OSU that emphasize caring for older adults include the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders Program (NICHE), a pilot program on Unit 11 East staffed by geriatric nurse specialists who focus
on seniors requiring complex care, and a Subacute Care Program through the Division of General Internal Medicine, and more.

At OSU, there are currently eight primary care geriatricians who in 2016 saw 7,500
outpatients, cared for 1,835 inpatients, and visited 377 patients in
transitional care organizations. That's a lot of caring!

A
Service Coordinator provides information and referrals about supportive
services to frail or at risk older adults, or non-elderly residents with
disabilities, which allows them to gain self-sufficiency, remain in their own
homes if possible, and prevent inappropriate or premature
institutionalization. The service coordination profession differs from the
social work profession in that social workers may excel at counseling and
one-on-one interactions with a client/resident whereas Service Coordinators are
experts in gathering information and referring clients to community and other
services. The case study below is an example of a day in the life of a
Service Coordinator:

Mrs.
Brown is a 94 year old widow living alone. She utilizes a telephone check-in
system and has a case manager. Her daughter is an involved caregiver. On
a recent home visit, the Service Coordinator found Mrs. Brown sitting in the
dark in oppressive heat. Mrs. Brown stated that she “sits in the dark and
thinks of her deceased husband.” The daughter tells the Service Coordinator
that she is concerned about ongoing depression and loneliness.

After
completing a needs assessment, the Service Coordinator suggested a personal falls alert system and
made a referral to a community provider for Mrs. Brown. She also spoke with Mrs. Brown’s case
manager about socialization and provided education to the daughter about
available community services and the realities of Mrs. Brown’s current situation.

Find out more about the service coordination profession by
reviewing the following resources and programs:

A guardian is a person or agency appointed by the court to
be legally responsible for the care of an older adult, vulnerable individual or
disabled person who is unable to make decisions for him or herself and have
nobody else who would be appropriate to serve as their guardian. This includes people who
may suffer serious harm if a guardian isn’t appointed, or those people whose
current arrangements are being mismanaged or misused. Guardians help clients pay bills, link them
with people that can help them make health care decisions, can enroll them in
available community services, such as Medicaid programs, and provide other care
as needed or directed.

There are many different kinds of guardianships, such as “limited
guardianship,” “temporary guardianship,” and “emergency guardianship,” and
these guardianships vary by state. There
are also many different kinds of guardians.
A guardian might be a family member, a friend, or a “non-professional”
guardian. There are also certified professional
guardians that may care for more than one client. Guardians may also be a public guardianship
agency, such as the Central Ohio Agency on Aging, which has a Volunteer Guardian Program.

Geriatrics syndromes are health conditions that are more
commonly seen in the older adult population, typically have more than one
cause, and may involve many parts of the body. A geriatric syndrome is
not a disease; rather, it is the coexistence of chronic diseases with shared
risk factors that may lead to functional decline, increased frailty, poor
health outcomes, and even death. Older adults meeting the following
criteria are more likely to suffer from a geriatric syndrome(s):

Functional
Impairment

Cognitive Impairment

Impaired mobility

Poor Nutritional status

Female gender

Depressive symptoms

Older age

Go
to Aging Connections to
view a list of some of the more common geriatric syndromes and other issues
often experienced by older adults, and links to additional information and
validated assessments and screening tools that can be used by health
professionals to evaluate these issues.

Obesity is common, causes serious health problems, is costly,
negatively affects socioeconomic status, and occurs in some ethnic groups more
than others. In fact, obesity is the second
leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Unfortunately, almost 1/3 of the U.S. adult population
is considered overweight, obese or extremely obese (2011-2014 data). And the prevalence of obesity among adults 60
years old and older was 37%; older adult women (38.8%) are also somewhat more
obese than older adult men (34.9%).

Since the 1960’s the prevalence of obesity among adults
has almost doubled from 13.4% to 35.7%. The
overall numbers in 2010 indicated that 35.7% of people 20 years old and older
were obese (BMI 30+) and 33.1% were considered extremely obese (BMI 40+). Over the last several years, there has also
been a slight increase in obesity among men, black women, and Mexican American
women.

Use these resources to find more information on this
topic and to calculate your own BMI:

A report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates
that over the past two decades, the number of prisoners age 55 and older
increased by 400%, from 3% (26,300) of total prisoners in 1993 to 10% (131,500)
in 2013. This increase is likely due to a
higher number of prisoners serving longer sentences and higher admission of
older adults to the prison system. Almost
a third of these older prisoners are serving life or death sentences, and more
than 65% were sentenced for a violent offense.

The prison population typically has higher rates of
cardiac disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic diseases than
the general population. And older
inmates are more likely to suffer from chronic or serious medical conditions or
have deteriorating mental or physical health that affects their ability to
function in a correctional facility. For
example, hearing loss, dementia and frailty makes it difficult for
older inmates to follow prison rules. Maneuvering
around the facility, getting to a top bunk or going up stairs, can also be
difficult for older adults.

Staffing limitations and training at correctional
facilities also affects the overall health of older inmates. According to the
U.S. Department of Justice, aging inmates have higher medical needs that
necessitate more frequent trips outside the prison system to acquire health care,
but limited staff to provide transportation often results in delayed medical
care for older inmates. Furthermore, staff
is not trained or required to recognize the signs of aging or address
decreasing daily activities of living of older
prisoners, further delaying care.

As the growth of the older population over the next 20
years skyrockets, prison officials, the government, and the public will need to
come together to address the growing issue of the aging prison population and
their increasing health care needs while incarcerated.

Co-housing communities are custom-built neighborhoods that can be
intergenerational or senior-focused. Some of the benefits of co-housing
for older adults is that resources are shared, cooperation is inherent, social
contact is built-in, communities are safe, and it is typically more cost
efficient than living in assisted living or owning a larger home.
Co-housing communities are also environmentally friendly as residents walk more
often instead of driving, they usually occupy less land, and units are more
energy efficient. Co-housing communities share 6 components: